ERRC Statement RegardingCanada as Haven for Roma(Updated 17 April 1999)

15 August 1997

The European Roma
Rights Center urges Prime Minister Václav Klaus and other
Czech officials to condemn recent statements of municipal authorities seeking
to encourage a mass exodus of Roma to Canada. The Czech government should
make clear that Roma are fully welcome to remain in the country by taking
concrete actions to guarantee their physical security and improve their
livelihood.

A programme aired in early August on a private television channel depicted
Canada as a haven where, in contrast to their treatment in the Czech Republic,
Roma were assured financial security and protected from systematic discrimination
and physical attack. In the days following the broadcast, numerous Roma
in the Czech Republic have contacted the Canadian Embassy to inquire about
the possibility of relocation.

Since the programme's airing, some local government
officials have issued inflammatory declarations encouraging, and promising
to provide incentives for, Roma to leave the country. Liana Janackova,
mayor of the Marianske hory district in the northern Moravian town of Ostrava,
reportedly suggested that Roma who move to Canada would receive payment
for two-thirds the cost of their flights, on the condition that they abandon
their flats and return their licenses of tenancy. The mayor described this
suggestion as "a friendly gesture" to "help" Roma who "don't want to live
here." The mayor is further reported to have said that, in Ostrava, there
are two groups -- "Roma" and "whites" -- who cannot live together, and
that the local administration should not refrain from helping one group
-- Roma -- find a solution. Press reports indicate that similar policies
were pursued in the western Bohemian town of Tachov.

Such expressions display, at best, extraordinary insensitivity and an
endorsement of segregation which is at odds with the stated policies of
the Czech government. They are particularly troubling in light of reports
that, as recently as early August, authorities in Ostrava were considering
re-locating to a predominantly Roma quarter of the city Roma whose housing
had been damaged by heavy flooding. The reports from Ostrava, combined
with the repeated prior failure of municipalities to provide adequate replacement
housing for Roma who have suffered accidental damage to their homes, give
cause for concern that some officials might be exploiting a natural disaster
to "ghetto-ise" the Roma population.

In recent years, the human rights situation of
Roma in the Czech Republic has remained precarious. Thousands of Roma have
been effectively stripped of their citizenship by a law adopted at the
time of the 1993 division of Czechoslovakia. Roma have been the repeated
targets of skinhead violence. Yet, prosecutors and courts have turned a
blind eye to evidence of racial motivation, dragged out legal proceedings
for years, and, perversely, used against Roma the very provisions of the
criminal code which were designed to punish and deter anti-Roma crime.
Moreover, as Prime Minister Klaus acknowledged on August 14, Roma face
a daunting array of discriminatory practices in education, employment,
housing and everyday existence.

The ERRC notes that some senior government officials
have taken issue with statements of municipal authorities supporting Roma
emigration. We applaud such efforts and ask the Czech government at its
highest levels unequivocally to condemn any statements or policies which
encourage, or provide incentives for, Roma to leave the Czech Republic.
We further request that the government make clear that Roma are welcome
and should remain in the Czech Republic, that those who have been made
homeless by the recent flooding will be provided with adequate housing,
and that their fate will not be used as an excuse for policies promoting
segregation. Finally, the continuing public hostility towards Roma evidenced
by the statements in Ostrava and Tachov underlines the need for Czech authorities
to redouble their efforts in prosecuting racially-motivated crime, guaranteeing
equal rights to citizenship, and eradicating discrimination in all areas
of public life.

The European Roma Rights Center
is an international public interest law organisation which monitors the
situation of Roma in Europe and provides legal defence in cases of human
rights abuse. The ERRC is supervised by a board of directors. Romani organisations
and Romani individuals throughout Europe contribute time, money and expertise
to the ERRC.